City celebrates saving Providence National Bank facade

AFTER SEVEN YEARS of being supported by a steel structure that has blocked Weybosset Street, the city of Providence and other organizations are going to move the support structure to the back of the Providence National Bank facade.

PROVIDENCE – On Thursday, the Providence Preservation Society, the Providence Revolving Fund and Mayor Angel Taveras celebrated the next phase of preservation of the Providence National Bank building.

The building’s neo-federal style Weybosset Street facade was constructed in 1950 and designed by architectural firm Clarke and Howe.

The facade is all that remains from the building, which was demolished in 2005 to make way for a proposed condominium tower project that was never realized.

Since the condominium tower was forestalled in 2008 due to the recession, “the facade has remained exposed and neglected, supported only by steel bracing that has degraded, diminished and demoralized Weybosset Street,” according to a release.

The current plans for the facade involve removing the steel bracing from the Weybosset Street sidewalk by installing structural supports to the back of the facade.

The city hopes that this process will help “restore the commercial viabilitity to a compromised segment of Weybosset Street,” according to a release.

Property owner O’Connor Capital Partners has agreed to include the facade in any future plans for the property, which was included on the Providence Preservation Society’s Ten Most Endangered Properties list in 2009, 2010 and 2011.

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